No. 20 Kansas State's trip to Iowa State is fraught with a little danger for Snyder, who traditionally is as stuck in his routines as you would expect from a 73-year-old leader.

Remember, this is the same coach who once berated a hotel manager when the Wildcats were served butter packets, rather than the margarine he had requested, at a pregame meal. It's the same guy who arranged for his team to fly on the shaded side of an airplane during a charter trip to Japan, helping the players rest on the long flight.

So a change from the ordinary isn't something Snyder typically would embrace with too much fervor.

High School

On the other hand, Cyclones coach Paul Rhoads is looking for any kind of spark he can find after his team was humiliated on its home field in a devastating 34-14 loss to North Dakota State to start the season. Losing his best receiver, Quenton Bundrage, with a season-ending knee injury certainly won't help.

But playing this week immediately forces the Cyclones, especially going against a league foe, to quickly rebound.

“It gets your attention,” Rhoads said. “It keeps you focused and keeps the kids ready to go. For us, coming off a disappointing loss, I think it is really good for our focus and concentration. I am not against it at all.”

The advantage of a well-coached team increases markedly as the season continues. Snyder's squads traditionally improve as much late in the season as anybody, as was seen in the Wildcats' 6-1 finish a year ago.

Kansas State hasn't played a Big 12 game this early in a season since its 1996 opener against Texas Tech christened the conference. Iowa State hasn't played a Big 12 game this soon since beating Kansas in its second game in 2002.

“You'd like to have the opportunity in earlier ballgames to get (something) from all of your players, have a chance to get your No. 2's on the field and they can experience game day in a competitive manner before we get into conference play,” Snyder said.

These early season games are becoming more of a trend around the nation. The delicious Pac-12 matchup Saturday between Stanford and USC is one of the more notable games this week.

Last week in the SEC, Texas A&M and South Carolina hooked up in a huge game for an opener. Auburn and Arkansas also met.

Perhaps the major reason for these early season conference games comes from the television partners. Don't kid yourself. ESPN had a lot of influence in helping A&M and South Carolina become the first live game on the SEC Network.

Games like these are great for fans. College football is blessed with the best and most meaningful regular season of any major sport. Every game matters. And when the early season games are in conference — even in September — it's that much better.

Obviously, most coaches would rather have a run-up before the conference part of the schedule begins. But sometimes, swimmers have to dive into the deep end of the pool from the very beginning.

Snyder and Rhoades will be doing their best to stay afloat Saturday afternoon.